Plastic jigsaw puzzle structure

ABSTRACT

A plastic jigsaw puzzle includes several pieces, and a base plate; the pieces are made of plastic and pervious to light; each of the pieces has an image layer sandwiched therein, and several fitting portions on an edge thereof such that the pieces can be pieced together with adjacent ones of the fitting portions being fitted together; furthermore, those of the fitting portions of the pieces that face in the same direction have the same shape; the base plate is made of plastic and pervious to light; the base plate has a protruding border, and a transparent middle portion encompassed by the protruding border; the protruding border has an image layer sandwiched therein, and several fitting portions for the fitting portions of the pieces to fit in.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a plastic jigsaw puzzle, more particularly one, which is water-resistant, pervious to light, safe, strong, and usable as a decoration, and can be played with in water, and whose pieces are formed with images that won't fall off.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

It will enhance a person's ability to thick to play jigsaw puzzles. Therefore, jigsaw puzzles have never lost their popularity since they were made available.

Common conventional jigsaw puzzles are made of cardboards, and have images printed thereon, and they are cut into many pieces by means of a cutting tool such that the pieces have fitting protrusions and fitting gaps on the edges thereof, and the pieces can be pieced together in their correct position by means of fitting the fitting protrusions in the fitting gaps.

However, the above-mentioned jigsaw puzzles have the following disadvantages:

1. The jigsaw puzzles are made of paper materials therefore they will get damaged easily and become useless if they are wetted by water.

2. The jigsaw puzzles are made of cardboards, which aren't pervious to light, therefore the images printed thereon won't be unique-looking or attractive enough after the pieces are pieced together. Consequently, the jigsaw puzzles can't sufficiently satisfy consumers' need.

3. The users will touch the ink used to print the images on the jigsaw puzzles, which ink may contain toxic substances. Therefore, the jigsaw puzzles aren't safe.

4. The jigsaw puzzles are prone to change shape owing to external force, and have relatively short service life because they are made of paper materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a main object of the invention to provide an improvement on a jigsaw puzzle to overcome the above-mentioned problems.

The jigsaw puzzle of the present invention includes several pieces, and a base plate. The pieces are made of plastic and pervious to light; each of the pieces has an image layer sandwiched therein, and several fitting portions on an edge thereof such that the pieces can be pieced together with adjacent ones of the fitting portions being fitted together. Those of the fitting portions of the pieces that face in the same direction have the same shape. The base plate is made of plastic and pervious to light, and it has a protruding border, a transparent middle portion encompassed by the protruding border, and an image layer sandwiched in the protruding border. The protruding border of the base plate has several fitting portions for connection with the pieces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a top view of the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the present invention,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the present invention, taken after the pieces have been fitted together, and

FIG. 5 is a side view of the present invention in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a preferred embodiment of a plastic jigsaw puzzle includes a base plate 1, and several pieces 2.

The base plate 1 is made of plastic, and pervious to light. The base plate 1 has a protruding border 11, an image layer 12 sandwiched in the protruding border 11, and a transparent middle portion 14 encompassed by the protruding border 11. The protruding border 11 has fitting portions 13, which are provided for connection with the pieces 2, and which can be fitting protrusions 131 or fitting gaps 132. The middle portion 14 of the base plate 1 is provided for receiving the pieces 2.

The pieces 2 are made of plastic and pervious to light. The pieces 2 have image layers 21 sandwiched therein, and fitting portions 22 on the edges, which can be fitting protrusions 221 or fitting gaps 222; those of the fitting portions 22 that face in the same direction have the same shape.

Therefore, the pieces 2 can be positioned in the right places on the transparent middle portion 14 of the base plate 1 to form a complete picture with adjacent ones of the fitting portions 22 and 13 being fitted together.

To make the image layers 21, 12 of the pieces 2 and the protruding border 11 of the base plate 1, first a first acryl plate is formed in a mold, and next a piece of cloth or cast coated Kraft paper is positioned over the first acryl plate as the image layer, which has images of people, stories, things, scenery etc printed thereon with heat-resistant, easily fixable, high temperature resistant and light-resistant ink, and finally a second acryl plate is formed over the image layer and the first acryl plate; images can be printed on single or two sides of the cloth/cast coated Kraft paper.

Because images are printed on the image layers with heat-resistant, easily fixable, high temperature resistant and light-resistant ink, and the image layers are sandwiched between the acryl plates, the images have quality and attractive colors, which can't mix, fade or loss their brightness, and the image layers (paper/cast coated Kraft paper) can't distort, stretch, shrink or change shape, and the ink and the image layers can't crack.

From the above description, it can be seen that the jigsaw puzzle structure of the present invention has at least the following advantages:

1. The base plate and the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are made of plastic materials therefore they are water-resistant, and can be played with in water.

2. The jigsaw puzzle is made of plastic materials therefore it has a relatively long service life, not gong to change shape even if it has been used for a long length of time.

3. The jigsaw puzzle is pervious to light therefore it will be relatively pleasant and unique looking, and can be used as a decoration after the pieces are pieced together, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

4. The image layers are sandwiched in the pieces and the protruding border of the base plate therefore the user's hands won't be dirtied by the ink on the image layers, which may contain toxic substances.

5. It takes relatively much mental effort and is much fun to make the pieces fitted together in their correct places because those of the fitting portions of the pieces that face in the same direction have the same shape, thus preventing the user from guessing the correct positions of the pieces from the shapes of the fitting portions. 

1. A plastic jigsaw puzzle structure, comprising a plurality of pieces; the pieces being made of plastic and pervious to light; each of the pieces having an image layer sandwiched therein; each of the pieces having a plurality of fitting portions on an edge thereof such that the pieces can be pieced together with adjacent ones of the fitting portions being fitted together; those of the fitting portions of the pieces that face in a same direction having a same shape; and a base plate; the base plate being made of plastic and pervious to light; the base plate having a protruding border, and a transparent middle portion encompassed by the protruding border; the protruding border having an image layer sandwiched therein; the protruding border having a plurality of fitting portions for connection with the pieces.
 2. The plastic jigsaw puzzle structure as recited in claim 1, wherein the fitting portions of the pieces and the protruding border of the base plate are fitting protrusions and fitting gaps. 